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Vortex
' |image= |series= |production=40511-412 |producer(s)= |story= |script=Sam Rolfe |director=Winrich Kolbe |imdbref=tt0708659 |guests=Max Grodénchik as Rom, Cliff DeYoung as Croden, Randy Oglesby as Ah-KelBold text / Ro-Kel, Gordon Clapp as Hadran, Kathleen Garrett as Vulcan Captain, Leslie Engelberg as Yareth |previous_production=The Nagus |next_production=Battle Lines |episode= DS9 S01E11 |airdate=18 April. 1993 |previous_release=The Nagus |next_release=Battle Lines |story_date(s)=Unknown (2369) |previous_story=(DS9) The Nagus (Overall) Lessons |next_story=(DS9) Battle Lines (Overall) The Chase }} =Summary= During a business transaction between unscrupulous bar operator Quark and a pair of Miradorn twins, a Mirador visitor attempts to steal a valuable item. Odo intercedes, but not before one of the twins is killed. The assailant, identified as Croden, is taken into Odo's custody while the remaining twin, Ah-kel vows vengeance. Croden makes several comments to Odo regarding Changelings. This piques Odo's interest, as he has never encountered another shape-shifter and all that is known is that he was found near the wormhole. Croden claims to have met one before. Croden's motives are suspect as he never divulges anything outright, but he claims there were once shape-shifters on his home-world. According to Croden, they were persecuted and driven off the planet; however, he may know of a place where they still exist. Odo is dubious of Croden's stories until Croden shows him a necklace with a stone that changes shape. Bashir examines it curiously and tells Odo that, given its composition, it could be thought of as his cousin. Commander Sisko and Lt. Dax meanwhile try to contact Croden's home-world. Apparently highly xenophobic, one of their leaders demands Croden's return, to which Sisko acquiesces. Back on the station, Croden tries to tempt Odo, telling him that though he could in person direct Odo to the colony of changelings he claims to have found. Sisko assigns Odo to return Croden to the latter's homeworld via runabout. Complicating matters the surviving Miradorn twin, Ah-Kel, has remained docked at Deep Space Nine, meticulously checking each ship that leaves to ensure he doesn't lose his opportunity to exact vengeance on Croden. Masked by a departing freighter, Odo manages to ferry Croden to the Gamma Quadrant undetected, though back on DS9, Ah-Kel quickly intimidates Quark into revealing that Odo has absconded with Croden and Ah-Kel enters pursuit. In the runabout with Croden, Odo navigates the Vortex, an asteroid field that Croden informs him is filled with unstable pockets called toh-maire. Odo is forced to release Croden to assist in evading Ah-Kel's ship. Croden is forced to land on the planet he had claimed contained the changeling colony. On the surface, Croden seems overeager, which reignites Odo's doubt. Odo demands the truth of Croden's stories. Croden reveals that though he had heard stories, he had never actually met a changeling. The shapeshifting stone he had shown Odo was bought at a marketplace. Croden uses the stone to open a chamber he had left on the planet's surface, containing his daughter's unconscious body, which he had put into stasis. Their life sign's having been detected, Ah-Kel has fired on the surface, prompting the three to return to the ship. A falling rock incapacitates Odo and Croden carries him back to the ship. In the Vortex, Odo tricks Ah-Kel into firing on a pocket of toh-maire, destroying the pursuing ship. Ultimately, Croden decides to answer for his crime on his homeworld and asks Odo to care for his daughter, but Odo, indebted to Croden, finds a Vulcan ship that agrees to take Croden and his daughter back to Vulcan with it. Croden gives Odo his necklace containing the Changeling stone as a sign of thanks for saving him and his daughter. =Errors and Explanations= Plot Oversights # Rom being able to carry a tray of glasses that include a shapeshifted Odo. Perhaps Odo’s race can either automatically adjust their specific density, or generate an anti gravity field. Internet Movie Database Incorrectly regarded as goofs # When Odo is knocked unconscious by the cave-in while inside the Vortex, he remains in a humanoid form. Evidently, his ability to retain shape doesn't require a constant conscious effort (in fact, it would be too hard for him if it did). Just because someone is unconscious, doesn't mean all their body processes stop working, otherwise losing consciousness would be fatal. # While in the brig, Croden wears his mysterious medallion around his neck. While it is generally a good idea in prisons to confiscate personal items that may theoretically be used as a weapon, apparently in this case it was deemed safe enough for the prisoner to keep, especially in a 24th century force field protected cell (and it was indeed safe). Nit Central # While in the form of a glass Odo shatters, and then reconstitutes. This episode and The Die Is Cast, both show 'pieces' of Odo swarming back to become part of Odo, indicating that Odo has some control over himself even if pieces are physically separated from him. (Kind of like Mercury from the comic book, The Metal Men.) If Odo and other Changelings have the ability to control pieces of themselves, then why can't a Changeling keep a small piece of itself looking like blood during blood screenings? This may not be possible - the reconstitution ability may be a subconcious action. # Why did Sisko tell the Miradorn he could go back to his ship? Isn't he still being investigated for a crime? Sisko may have dropped the charges due to lack of evidence. # If Rakhar is around three light years away from the wormhole, then why haven't any other ships discovered these people before this? Maybe it lies ‘behind’ the mouth of the wormhole, close to the path of the central passage. # D.K. Henderson on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 5:40 am: Wonder what ever became of that "key"? John-Boy on Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 4:16 pm: Odo probably kept it in his office and then later in his quarters. Category:EpisodesCategory:Deep Space Nine